10 Reasons You're Not Improving

  • last year
In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by PGA professional Alex Elliott to look at the main reasons why golfers get stuck at the same handicap for long periods. Alex offers some insights into the traps golfers fall into and provides advice on how to move forwards and possibly even to get your handicap down.
Transcript
00:00 - Hello everyone and welcome to the London Club.
00:02 In this video, we're gonna take a look at the top 10 reasons
00:05 that golfers do not get better.
00:07 - Looking at everything from the mental challenges
00:09 out on the golf course,
00:10 to some of the tough shots that are costing you.
00:12 - Right, let's head out and get started.
00:14 (upbeat music)
00:17 Right, so number 10 on our list,
00:20 and the first one we're gonna look at, Alex,
00:21 is making swing changes mid-round.
00:25 - Yeah, I think this can work both ways.
00:27 Like, you could make a swing change,
00:29 actually hit a decent shot
00:31 if you've been struggling throughout that round,
00:33 but then you sort of question yourself,
00:34 well, what did I do differently?
00:36 You try it again,
00:37 and then the ball goes off in a different direction.
00:39 - So, question for you then, Alex,
00:41 how many swing thoughts do you think
00:43 is the right number of swing thoughts for a player?
00:45 - I like to have two,
00:46 just in the sense of like having a back swing thought,
00:49 and then a trigger thought.
00:51 - Okay.
00:52 - Like, okay, for example,
00:53 like mine would be take it wide,
00:55 and then belt buckle to target,
00:58 just to make sure I get through the ball.
00:59 But the two feelings that are something that are easy to do.
01:04 - Right, okay.
01:05 - It's not like, move this, do this.
01:06 - No, not a really technical, complicated move.
01:09 - Exactly that.
01:10 And just, actually, if you're gonna make a swing change,
01:12 either maybe get it from a YouTube video,
01:14 or get some advice from a PTA pro.
01:16 - Yeah, so, as Alex said, two swing thoughts,
01:18 stick with them while you're on the golf course.
01:21 If it hasn't worked, then make a change.
01:23 Don't make that change while you're on the course.
01:25 (upbeat music)
01:28 - So, number nine on our list is about distance.
01:31 Alex, what is it?
01:32 - Yeah, I mean, this might be a bit of a contradiction
01:35 to what you probably heard online before.
01:38 If you don't drive it far enough,
01:39 it's actually hard to lower your scuts.
01:41 - Right, okay.
01:42 So, let's say you've got somebody out there
01:44 who hits it 200 yards, but pretty straight.
01:47 What sort of handicap would you say they could get to
01:49 before they start to struggle
01:50 to get any lower from that point?
01:52 - I would say trying to access single figures, potentially.
01:55 - Right.
01:55 - Because you're gonna drive it to a point
01:56 where you're always gonna have a medium to long iron
01:59 into majority of par fours.
02:01 Whereas we know long irons are hard to hit greens,
02:04 and it's hard to hit close, so your proximity to the hole.
02:07 It's just generally harder to lower your scores that way.
02:09 - Yeah.
02:10 Now, Alex has got some advice on his YouTube channel
02:12 about how to hit the ball further off the tee.
02:14 We have plenty of videos about the same topic
02:16 on our YouTube channel.
02:17 If you are struggling on that front,
02:19 take a look at some advice
02:20 to help you hit the ball a bit further.
02:21 It could be the thing that is stopping you
02:24 from shooting lower scores.
02:25 (upbeat music)
02:28 Okay, so this one is about being too hard on yourself,
02:32 putting too much pressure on your shoulders to perform.
02:35 Alex, what do you think is the mistake here
02:37 that sort of causes players to play poorly?
02:40 - I think, obviously, we all want to play our best golf.
02:42 We all invest a lot of money, a lot of time,
02:44 and we put the pressure on ourselves to perform.
02:47 And if it doesn't happen,
02:48 we get a little bit wound up sometimes, potentially,
02:51 and it's a downward spiral.
02:52 - I agree with you, right?
02:53 And I've definitely fallen foul of this in the past,
02:55 but we're all human beings.
02:57 It's kind of natural to want to play your best
02:59 every time you go out,
03:00 especially if you've been investing in clubs and lessons.
03:03 So how do you take pressure away from yourself?
03:05 - I think it's basically managing your expectations.
03:09 So it's going out there, going,
03:10 actually, well, I'm gonna just enjoy today
03:12 and see what happens.
03:13 Like, you think about this.
03:14 I bet you've done this exact scenario.
03:16 You've not played for two or three weeks,
03:17 you've come out and played your best golf.
03:18 - Yes.
03:19 - It's been raining, you've gone out with waterproofs on,
03:20 wet gloves on, hmm, expectations,
03:23 no one will shoot a good score today.
03:24 Probably shot a good score.
03:25 - Yes.
03:26 - Expectation levels are lower,
03:27 you can relax and actually let your creative juices flow.
03:31 - Yeah, so don't be too hard on yourself.
03:33 Golf is a difficult sport.
03:34 Maybe sort of try and feel your way into the round
03:37 and then see how things are going
03:38 before you start building any expectations,
03:40 because trying to go out there every single round
03:43 from the first shot,
03:43 trying to shoot your lowest score is very difficult.
03:49 - Number seven is not tracking your stats.
03:53 A lot of really valuable information
03:55 that you might just be giving up on
03:56 by not tracking your stats.
03:57 What should people be looking out for, Alex, here?
03:59 - I just think something simple,
04:01 like how many fairways are we hitting?
04:03 How many greens regulation?
04:05 And then on that, are we missing more left or more right?
04:08 - Okay, so it gives you an idea
04:09 about how to work on your game,
04:10 but then also an idea about how to strategize
04:13 while you're on the golf course?
04:13 - Yeah, like, take this flag here.
04:15 It's a right-hand side flag.
04:16 If you miss more to the right,
04:17 it's probably not a good idea to short-side yourself.
04:20 - Yes.
04:20 - So you can build in knowledge about your game
04:22 as well as working on the correct areas
04:24 and not just the areas you like to work on.
04:26 - Yeah, and so you might have a theory
04:29 about where you miss.
04:30 You might have a theory about how many fairways you hit,
04:32 how many greens you hit,
04:33 but actually backing it up with the data
04:35 gives you that framework, doesn't it?
04:36 - Exactly that.
04:37 And then you actually start to see improvements
04:40 because you're actually working on the areas that need work.
04:42 - Yeah.
04:43 Okay, Alex, you're going to have to hit this one for me.
04:45 So we've got 191.
04:46 Alex has got a very, very skinny Cobra 4 Iron in his hands.
04:51 This is really going to test you out, isn't it?
04:53 - And it's cold.
04:53 - And it's cold.
04:54 You've taken it on, Alex.
05:02 You've actually committed exactly the crime
05:05 that you were helping people guard against.
05:07 But Alex has got a good shot at short games,
05:08 so I'm sure he'll be fine.
05:13 This one is about not having exactly the right equipment
05:16 for your game.
05:17 Alex, what's the big mistake here?
05:19 - Yeah, I think there's two.
05:20 One with driver, which most people probably think about
05:22 when they go for a driver fitting,
05:23 but also with irons,
05:25 it's having the correct length and lie angle
05:28 to help you play better golf.
05:29 - Okay, so if you get it wrong, what will players see?
05:32 - So if a club is too long
05:34 and therefore the lie angle is too upright,
05:36 we'll start to see that golf ball launch a little bit left
05:40 for the majority of your shots.
05:41 And even more so with lofted irons.
05:43 If it was the opposite, if that lie angle was too flat,
05:46 we're going to see that shot starts the right.
05:48 Now, where do most people swing this golf club?
05:50 A little bit over, stand up,
05:52 create it a little bit flatter, out to the right.
05:55 - Yeah, so having the right equipment for you,
05:56 crucial in terms of your accuracy with your irons.
05:59 What about with the driver?
06:00 - With the driver, I think we all have this thing about
06:02 we have to have the stiffest shaft.
06:03 We have to have the club with the most or the least loft
06:07 to act like we can hit it a long way.
06:08 We're actually optimizing the correct shaft
06:11 and possibly more loft for most golfers
06:13 is going to make you hit it a little bit further.
06:15 - Yeah, so that low loft, low spin performance
06:18 might be good for your best swing
06:20 and your best strike and your best shot.
06:22 But how often is that going to actually cost you
06:25 when you're not got your best swing
06:26 and strike on the ball?
06:28 - And that's where we want to play our better golf, right?
06:30 We want to be able to get around the golf course,
06:32 round our handicap when we're not playing our best golf.
06:34 - Yeah, some really handy advice there
06:35 for getting the right equipment for your game.
06:38 (upbeat music)
06:41 So number five on our list is about putting.
06:45 And Alex, everyone could do with holding a few more putts.
06:48 It doesn't matter what handicap you are.
06:50 But what's the sort of advice here?
06:52 What's the mistake that people make?
06:53 - I think we always try and get a little bit complicated
06:56 because we think now our golf game
06:59 is based on such fine margins.
07:01 It's now a hole, not a fairway and not a green.
07:04 We think we've got to be really perfect.
07:05 - Okay, yeah.
07:06 So you're telling me we don't have to be perfect?
07:07 - Well, not really, no.
07:09 I think a lot of us try and be too perfect
07:11 and then we don't have any flow to our stroke.
07:13 - Okay, so if flow to your putting stroke is so important,
07:17 then give us a quick tip.
07:18 How do you get it?
07:19 - So I like to think of it like this.
07:20 I think a lot of it comes from grip pressure.
07:22 I always picture Tiger.
07:24 Now that's not the analogy that I have.
07:25 His hands look comfortable on the club.
07:27 So we're in there, hands looking comfortable,
07:30 maybe give the shoulders a bit of a waggle.
07:31 And I have the practice swings looking at the hole,
07:34 just tuning myself into my senses
07:37 about what I've got to actually do.
07:39 - Yeah, and if you can do that,
07:40 then you don't have to think too much
07:41 about how hard you're hitting the ball.
07:43 It should happen naturally.
07:45 Come on then Alex, I'm gonna put you under pressure.
07:46 Make it for us.
07:47 - You've given me a left to right here.
07:48 - I've given you a slight left to right.
07:50 Although greens are perfect, I'm giving you no excuses.
07:52 - Oh!
07:59 - Oh dear, not enough flow.
08:02 - Not enough flow, but a lovely putt.
08:08 - Okay, so number four on our list is about strategy.
08:11 And Alex, it's about the eight out of 10 rule.
08:14 Explain.
08:15 - Yeah, I think no matter what level you are,
08:17 it's using the strategy where if I have a shot
08:20 that I'm about to hit,
08:21 if I can't pull it off eight times out of 10,
08:24 then possibly it's rethinking either the club
08:26 or ever raining.
08:28 - Okay, good.
08:28 So how does it apply in this scenario?
08:30 - Well, this is a tough hole here at the London Club, right?
08:32 Water all down the left.
08:34 One place you can't go is left.
08:36 Now, most club golfers, we hit it with a bit of a slice.
08:39 So you might think, you know what?
08:40 If I'm going to hit this fairway,
08:41 I've got to aim at the trouble.
08:43 Let it come in.
08:44 Whereas actually, we know if I aim down the middle,
08:47 maybe, hopefully we hit the bullet straight.
08:49 But worst case scenario, I'm in the right rough,
08:51 I'm in play.
08:52 - Yeah, and you can always recover.
08:54 You can always make a sort of four or five
08:56 to further up to get up the hole.
08:57 But if you're in the water off the tee,
08:59 because you've hit that brilliant tee shot
09:01 that's gone dead straight,
09:02 then you're not going to be able to recover that.
09:03 - Exactly.
09:04 Yeah, so think about the eight out of 10 rule
09:06 while you're out on the golf course.
09:07 Use it to your advantage.
09:09 It could really help.
09:10 (upbeat music)
09:13 So, number three is not warming up.
09:16 Okay, how many of us are guilty of not doing anything
09:19 before we go and play golf to warm our bodies up?
09:21 It's really important.
09:22 Also, the other point here is that not everyone
09:24 is going to have a facility like there is here
09:26 at the London Club where you can go and hit balls.
09:28 If you do have a facility like this,
09:30 what's the best way of doing it kind of quickly?
09:32 Because most people out there don't have hours
09:34 to spend before they tee off.
09:35 - I would, if I got a facility like this,
09:36 I'd do five minutes putting, five minutes chipping,
09:39 finish off a little bit on the range,
09:41 head straight to the first tee.
09:42 Whereas most people actually do it in the reverse.
09:44 - Yes.
09:45 - But I want to do the last thing on the range,
09:47 the first thing I'm going to do on the first tee.
09:50 - Right, so you're imagining that first tee shot
09:51 that you're going to be hitting.
09:52 - Exactly.
09:53 - Okay, and then if you don't have a facility like this,
09:56 let's say you don't have any practice facilities whatsoever,
09:58 how should you do it?
10:00 - Stretching.
10:01 Just use your locker room.
10:02 Like you can actually mobilize your body quite easily
10:04 just by going in the locker room,
10:06 doing a few dynamic stretches.
10:08 And if you're wondering where to get that advice,
10:10 my TPI's got loads of different exercises
10:13 and I use them quite regularly.
10:14 If I know if I'm going playing a tournament
10:16 with a golf course that's got no range,
10:18 I'll go and spend 10 minutes in the locker room.
10:20 - Yeah, it's really simple stuff.
10:21 And again, it's the sort of preparation
10:23 that we all know we should do,
10:25 but we often fail to do it.
10:26 If you do commit to doing it,
10:28 chances are those first few holes,
10:30 you might just score them a bit better.
10:32 So number two on our list,
10:37 and it's something that stops a lot of golfers
10:39 from lowering their handicaps, lowering their scores,
10:41 is that they don't have a shot for a scenario like this.
10:45 They don't work on those scoring shots.
10:47 Alex?
10:48 - Yeah, and I think even for a higher handicap, right?
10:51 In a scenario like this on a long par four,
10:53 we're gonna be in a situation
10:54 where we're gonna have this 30 yard chip
10:56 for our third shot more often than not.
10:57 - Yes, and even for higher handicappers,
11:00 you wanna be getting it up and down every now and again.
11:02 You certainly never want to be getting down in four,
11:05 which means executing this shot a little bit better.
11:07 So Alex, give us a tip.
11:09 - So I always think most people would resort
11:11 most lofted club to probably get a shot like this.
11:13 I use the rule, if I can chip it, run it,
11:16 last resort, get it in the air.
11:17 - Okay.
11:18 - So nice and simple,
11:19 ball slightly towards the back of your stance,
11:21 narrow stance, pull the width apart,
11:23 and wait on your left.
11:24 - Okay.
11:24 - This makes it more of a long chip
11:27 rather than like a pitch.
11:28 - Okay, so which club have you got?
11:30 - So I've got pitch and wedge.
11:30 - Okay, go on then, let's see it.
11:32 - There we go, I'm looking for around about
11:35 two to three feet on,
11:36 running it up there as much as possible.
11:38 - Yeah, lovely.
11:42 And just notice how simple that action is.
11:44 It's something that every golfer
11:46 can try and replicate themselves.
11:47 Keep it simple, hit it a bit closer,
11:50 you might get it up and down a bit more often.
11:51 (upbeat music)
11:55 - Okay, so number one,
11:57 the number one fault that is holding golfers back
11:59 and stopping them from scoring their best is, Alex?
12:02 - Practice.
12:03 - Right, yeah, so not using the range
12:05 in the best way possible.
12:06 - Like, I call it like machine gun fire.
12:08 People get their hundred balls that's gone in 30 minutes.
12:11 (imitates gun firing)
12:12 - Yeah, and I think most people watching this
12:15 would have heard this sort of tip before,
12:16 and they go to the range,
12:17 myself included, with the best intentions.
12:19 - Yeah.
12:20 - But before you know it,
12:21 suddenly you've hit 30 shots very quickly
12:23 and you've stopped thinking about
12:24 anything that you're working on.
12:25 So what's a good way of kind of thinking about it
12:27 and committing to doing it properly?
12:29 - I think playing your hardest hole at your golf club
12:32 in your head is a great way to actually,
12:34 well, get over that hole,
12:36 but also tune yourself in to actually playing some shots
12:39 rather than out there just trying to make a perfect swing
12:42 and, oh, that wasn't good, right?
12:43 And just do this.
12:44 - Yes.
12:45 - Actually get out there and do something that reflects
12:47 what you're gonna do when you're around.
12:48 - What you're trying to do on the golf course.
12:49 So let me ask you then, Alex.
12:50 So you've got driver in your hand here.
12:52 You're imagining the fifth hole
12:54 or whatever it is at your course.
12:55 Are you actually picturing the fairway?
12:57 What are you seeing?
12:58 - Definitely.
12:59 I'm quite a person, a visual person.
13:01 So for me, it helps me picture the fairway.
13:03 I picture the shot and I'll set a boundary between,
13:06 let's say the two red flags in front of us.
13:08 - Right, let's test you out then.
13:09 So what is the boundary?
13:10 What's the shot that you're hitting?
13:11 What can you see?
13:12 - So we'll use the fifth at my golf club.
13:14 It is as narrow,
13:15 or it perceived looks as narrow as these two red flags.
13:19 So I hit a fade.
13:20 So I'm thinking, right,
13:21 can I fade it off the left flag into middle of that fairway?
13:25 - Okay.
13:25 - That's what I'm picturing.
13:27 So I would do this as well,
13:29 going through my full routine,
13:31 because that's really important.
13:33 You reflect and you mirror what you want to do
13:35 on a medal round on a Saturday.
13:37 - Yeah, so you're more comfortable
13:38 in all of those scenarios out on the course.
13:41 Beautiful.
13:48 Beautiful.
13:50 And it's simple processes like that.
13:51 If you are serious about shooting low scores
13:54 a bit more often than preparing yourself
13:56 for the pressure of these scenarios,
13:58 getting the most out of your practice time
14:01 is absolutely essential.
14:02 So there you have it.
14:03 That's our look at the top 10 reasons
14:05 golfers do not get better at the game.
14:07 Hopefully you found some of Alex's tips in there helpful,
14:11 some useful things to take out with you
14:12 on the golf course going forward.
14:14 If there is anything that you think we've missed,
14:16 please do leave some comments below.
14:18 We'd love to hear what you think.
14:19 But that's it for now from the London Club.
14:20 Thanks for watching.
14:21 We'll see you next time.
14:22 (upbeat music)
14:25 (upbeat music)
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